What are my rights as a Filipino citizen to acquire and own real property in the Philippines?

ANSWER

Filipino citizens like you are entitled to acquire and own lands or real estate in the Philippines, whether private or public. This right is enshrined and guaranteed to citizens of the Philippines in the Philippine Constitution and other pertinent Philippine laws. (Article XII, National Economy and Patrimony).

On public lands ownership, the Constitution allows qualified Filipino citizens to acquire a maximum of 12 hectares of alienable lands of the public domain and 500 hectares through lease. Alienable lands of the public domain refer only to those agricultural lands which remain part of the government owned property (Note: Under the regalian doctrine all lands belong to the State) and have not been disposed through sale or grant. Modes of acquiring title to alienable lands of the public domain include sale, homestead patent, sales patent, free patent or through uninterrupted possession for a period of time under a claim of title.

This right to acquire and own includes the rights to possess, to use, to enjoy the fruits, to dispose or sell and to recover.

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